While cleansing yoga practices are fantastic choices for spring, March 10th is a great lazy morning to have a gentler yoga practice. Particularly, if you are already an hour late for your normal Sunday morning class.
There are a number of poses you can do at 8 a.m., when your body still feels like it is 7 a.m. In fact, there are a number of poses you can do and use to justify going back to bed at this very moment.
Walk back into your bedroom and try the following stretches:
- Neck Rolls: Sit in easy seated pose. Inhale and drop your right ear to your right shoulder. Exhale and bring your chin to your chest. Inhale and role your left ear to your left shoulder. Exhale, again, moving your chin to your chest. Continue in the half neck rolls for up to two minutes. On the inhale bringing your ear to your shoulder and on the exhale releasing your chin to your chest.
- Seated Twist: Remain in easy seated pose with your hands on your knees and, on an exhale, leading with your belly, twist towards the left. On an inhale, straighten slightly and on the exhale deepen the twist, being aware not to pull the body deeper into the twist with your hands. After three breaths release and repeat on the right side.
- Swaying Child’s pose: Come into hero’s pose and fold down into a wide knee child’s pose. Stay in child's pose for up to 4 minutes and, if you desire, add movement to your child’s pose. Imagine you have a tail and are swishing the tail behind you so that your hips rock gently from side to side. This gentle movement is a good way to release tension in the hips.
- Knees to chest: Roll (without rolling off the bed) onto your back, and scoop your knees to your chest. Give yourself a hug.
- Final Stretch of choice: Allow yourself another movement to stretch a particularly stubborn area. If you have tight hamstrings then do thread the needle. For hip openers, consider hip rolls or supta baddha konasana. T-twists are also a great way to get a final twist in if you are still stiff.
- Legs up the wall: Your inversion for this practice is scooting yourself towards the wall and putting your legs up the wall. After ten minutes allow yourself to come down into sleeping child.
Unless you feel like jumping out of bed and starting your day after this mini practice, go back to bed. Get back up when you can safely drive to brunch. Later in the afternoon, you can check to see what favorite yoga class offerings are available during the week.
